Assessing Soil Health at Scale and Incorporating Measures of the Microbiome

March 30, 2022

Location

Online

Presenters

Elizabeth Rieke, Soil Microbiome Scientist, Soil Health Institute

Outline

Soil health is defined as “The continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” This abstract definition often leads to the question of “How do we measure soil health and how much can I improve the health of my soil?”

This webinar focuses on selecting soil health indicators for measurement at scale and how to appropriately interpret your soil health indicator data.

This event will also cover how measures of the microbiome can be used to strengthen the interpretation of traditional measures of soil health and their potential use as stand alone indicators. The presentation will highlight findings from the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements and introduce the concept of soil health targets.

Reference

Rieke et al. Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 168 (2022) 108618 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108618